#SFFPit 2015 Results!

I’m happy to provide you this tidy list of winning tweets for #SFFPit!

If you’re not sure what #SFFPit is, I’ll explain. There are a few Twitter Pitch contests each year, with #PitMad and #SFFPit being among the largest. #SFFPit is exclusive for Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels. Authors will write a short pitch of their novel, small enough to squeeze into a tiny tweet with hashtags, and hope for the best. If a publisher or agent favorites the tweet, then that means they’re interested and would like to know more! The author will then submit to said agent or publisher (assuming they want to), according to any special submission guidelines the agent or publisher has tweeted. Special consideration is usually given to such pitches in an otherwise hard-to-stand-out slush pile. The other benefit is to network with editors/agents/authors that you wouldn’t have had a chance to meet!

This list, while large, may not include all winning tweets. If your awesome tweet was not included and received a favorite from a publisher or agent, please feel free to let me know and it’ll be added!

I am also proud to announce my winning tweets, which drew the attention of 3 publishers and 2 literary agents (though one agent’s favorite was not a request for materials. They just thought it was cool I used their author’s book as a comparison title. SO technically I only got one agent’s interest that was actually about me. But, no such thing as bad publicity I say!)

AJ Flowers (3) winning tweets:

@AJFlowers86

Favs by 2 agents –one fav just for excitement(RedSofa Literary), and one fav looking for materials(Rena Rossner)–

FALLEN meets INKED-Angels aren’t as good as you think. They’re thieves, thugs, and slave traders. So… What’s that make demons? #SFFPit #YA

Fav by 1 publisher –PandaMoon Pub–

*Note: On Twitter the PandaMoon Editor requested a direct tweet if authors felt they had a pitch that would interest her. Since she requested dark fantasy with animal companions, it felt like a good shot and turned out I was right. Goes to show, don’t just aimlessly tweet. Actively follow the feed for such comments!*

Descended from Lilith and hunted along with her dark horse familiar, she’ll take on a god or reincarnate trying.#SFFPit @DaphneTuccitto #HF

Fav by 1 publisher –REUTS Publishing–

She was an angel born without wings. Then a demon put a time bomb in her soul. Now she must find her best friend’s killer. #SFFPit #YA #HF

Paula Gesmundo ‏@noapaulag – Greek gods play chess with human lives. Apollo wants out of the game but he’s in love w/ the pawn. For grown-up Riordan fans! #SFFPit #A #CF

Fav by 2 publishers –Entangled & Fantasy Works Pub–Vanessa Rodriguez‏@Married2ARod – Slaying dragons. A war for the control of magic. Dragon serum. The truth & one girl’s quest. Welcome to the Drakon Akademie. #SFFpit #YA #FA

Fav by 1 publisher –Fantasy Works Pub–Gabriella Saab‏@G__Saab – An elf who can’t control her powers hardly seems capable of protecting magic and defeating a king. But that’s what Aelfa must do #SFFpit #YA

Fav by 1 publisher –Entangled–Ali Herring‏@HerringAli – A journey through Egypt. Clues left by Ra. Earth faces destruction. Life was easier when Gil thought he was human. #SFFpit #SF #YA INDYJONES

Fav by 1 publisher –Entangled–Madeline Reynolds‏@mad_reynolds – When Miranda learns she might be the exiled queen of the Unseelie Court, she fears being the villain in her own story #SFFpit #UF #YA

Fav by 2 publishers –Entangled & Fantasy Works Pub–Heather Romito‏@HeatherRomito – Mermaid-hunting pirates. A mother’s spell to save her daughter and her people. A Savage war. Only Delmara can save them all. #SFFpit #YA #EF

Fav by 2 publishers –Entangled & Fantasy Works Pub–Robert McNeary‏@rmcnearyauthor – A warrior-in-training recruits a ragtag band to fight mythological beings. They will draw on the elements – and each other. #SFFPit #YA #EF

Fav by 1 publisher –PandaMoon Pub–Brian S. Converse‏@BrianSConverse – #SFFpit #A #SO James’ life changes when he wakes up aboard an alien spacecraft. He’s surprised to discover it’s a change for the better.

Fav by 1 publisher –REUTS Publishing–Mayken Brünings‏@MaykenAlanna – Holding a dragon’s life flame, Naya can take his power to ward off the dragon invasion. But it would kill her dragon friend. #SFFpit #YA #EF

Fav by 1 agent –Prospect Agency– & 1 publisher –REUTS Publishing–Carol Riggs‏@Artzicarol – Transformed into a genie, Adeelah searches for her love while evading an evil former master and protecting her new one. #SFFpit #YA #FA

Fav by 1 agent –Prospect Agency–Mark Jensen‏@MarkJensen93 – As aliens try to heal his brother, Trent helps a clone fit into high school and date his brother’s athlete girlfriend. #SFFpit #AH #YA #SF

Fav by 1 publisher –JollyFish Press–Ninan Tan‏@NinanTanster – Future war-torn Greenland. A jaded hero forced to take a young pilot under his wing. A girl who will eclipse him to end the war. #SFFpit #YA

Fav by 1 publisher –JollyFish Press–Katherine Blakeney‏@YorwickCastle – 2 Earthian descendants of a destroyed alien race return to their home planet to seek the lost tomb of a legendary king. #SFFpit #YA #SF #SP

Fav by 1 publisher –PandaMoon Pub–Matthew Bin‏@coffeewriting – Brendan wants to go to an offworld colony. To get there, has to pretend he’s married to a stranger. Didn’t know she’s an assassin. #SFFPit

Fav by 1 agent –Bent Agency–Christopher T Nugent‏@AShortSeries – When a dragon attacks his home, 15yo magical prodigy must slay it to save his family or spare it to save the desert kingdom. #YA #FA #SFFPIT

Fav by 1 agent –Bent Agency–ET Smith‏@eltsmith – Salem’s witches must ally with the patriots because when dragons are coming it’s 1 if by land, 2 if by sea, and 3 if by air #SFFpit #MG #FA

Fav by 1 agent –Lisa Dawson Associates–Anissa‏@AnissaAZ – “Lies controlled me, made me kill. When I uncover the truth, you better not be the one who lied” BOURNE IDENTITY + JESSICA JONES #SFFpit #YA

Fav by 1 agent –Lisa Dawson Associates–Jamie K.‏@Rockets2Writing – When everyone has a tracking chip that interfaces with the brain, one glitch threatens the world. 16yo Kaya is that glitch #SFFpit #YA #SFT

Fav by 1 publisher –PandaMoon Pub–Jacine Robinson‏@robinson_jacine – Antarctica was never meant to be the Garden of Eden, humans were never meant to find the seed of genesis, and evolution was never– #SFFpit

Fav by 1 publisher –JollyFish Press–Crystal Renee Smith‏@crysrensmith – Bound by two blood spells—one to save her, one to silence her—Aurelia must cast her own to reclaim a throne she never wanted. #SFFpit #YA

AJ Flowers Comments — these are purely my opinions so take it or leave it!

It’s interesting to see what publishers favorite versus agents. I feel that the common thread of diversity are two things:

1. Including Comparison Titles

By using a comparison, meaning “Book A meets Book B” is a quick and easy way to give someone else an idea of what your book is about. Bottom line, the trend I have seen says using comparisons will turn off publishers, and turn on agents.

To agents, they can immediately judge if this would be the kind of market they’re looking for or not. It may be the difference between a favorite or not, because with just a short pitch the agent may not get a full enough sense if your book will be something they would care to market or would have potential for the kind of publishers they tend to work with.

But on the other hand, if you are targeting publishing I don’t think having comparison titles is the way to go. To a publisher, they’re just looking for something fresh and new that is within their genre. A simple hashtag will tell them the genre (so you should ALWAYS include one if at all possible!) and they’re just looking for a catchy phrase. Comparison titles will make them second guess if your book is really unique and fresh if you’re able to compare it to other books on the market.

But do be careful when using comparison titles. Some agents may get so excited that you used their author’s book as a comparison title they’ll favorite your tweet without thinking. (Which is what happened to me and was a pretty big let-down after I spent 2 hours crafting a query to an agent that wasn’t even interested in my book’s subject matter.)

2. The Trendy Hashtag

As for the trendy hashtag (like #LGBT), you’ll target a very specific area of agents. I don’t think publishers really care about this level of specification, as I didn’t see agents tweeting that they were only searching for such hashtags. But I did see quite a few agents saying they only searched for tweets with #SFFPit & #LGBT. So, you may limit your audience, but you also may stand out in a smaller pool of tweets.

Looking for professional advice to construct your pitch, in the world of Twitter, in-person workshops, or query letters? I highly recommend these resources:

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